Tout Simplement
by ElsieLorraine
Summary: There are things that happen just because.


**Tout Simplement **

"Just because."

The first time they met was nothing special. They just happened to be at the same place, at the same time. It was not by coincidence that her Frisbee flew to him. At the very least, it was instinct that he caught it, common courtesy that he returned it, and manners that lead him to introduce himself to her. He was Drew. She was May. The two were young coordinators that met at Slateport beach one afternoon. They were at the same place at the same time. It wasn't the right place, but there was no reason to think that it was the wrong one. It was the same. It was the first. Everything just followed after that. It did not go downhill, nor did it go uphill. Everything just followed.

It didn't "just so happen" that May and Drew met later on in that year's journey. They were, after all, both coordinators. Coordinators had the tendency to flock to where the nearest contest was being held in order for them to compete. It was more or less predictable for May and Drew to cross paths another five times, at least. It wasn't unexpected that they'd get create some sort of relationship, may it be a rivalry or a friendship. Or both.

By the time May was ready to enter the Chrysanthemum contest, she had gotten accustomed to receiving roses for Drew. Well, receiving roses from Drew to give to Beautifly, at least. When she received a red rose from "someone", May was so sure that it was from Drew. It came as a surprise to find out that it wasn't. It came as an even bigger surprise when it was from another girl called Brianna. What didn't come as a surprise were the things Brianna implied about May's relationship with Drew, as was May's denial over these implications. Later on, May would meet Soledad, Drew's respected mentor, and these implications would be revived.

When May was feeling down from her loss at the Kanto Grand Festival, it was Drew who came to the rescue. He'd been there, done that a couple of times more than she had. He knew the right words to say, and the best thing to do. At least, by then, they'd established the need to be with each other. She needed him to bring her back up when she was at her lowest. Even Ash, Brock, and Max couldn't do that. He needed her to keep him on his toes. He had to admit that she was pretty stellar for a rookie. They had formed an unspoken pact to travel to the same regions at least whenever they would start a new journey. It came as a surprise to nobody when May followed Drew (and Harley and Soledad) to Johto, despite what seemed like a spur-of-the-moment-not-really-offer made by Drew in Fennel Valley.

By the time May turned sixteen, the pair had already known each other for six years. After six years, two of which they had actually travelled together, she had developed feelings for him, and him for her. They had seen each other at their best, and at their worst. And yet, neither tired of the other. On her sixteenth birthday, with Soledad's advice and Harley's not-so-advice, Drew took May out on a dinner "date". It wasn't explicitly stated by Drew that it was a date when he asked her out that evening. Neither of the two considered it one because they weren't dating. But it was one. And at the back of their minds, they enjoyed the idea of it being one. At that night, nothing happened to create any progress in their relationship.

It was when Drew turned seventeen a few months later that something did happen. With May's luck, or lack thereof, the pair found themselves in a cave, trying to keep themselves warm and dry from the sudden rainstorm that afternoon. Strangely, it was Drew who got caught in the heavy rain, but only because he had told May to find shelter instead of running after her Skitty when she saw her slip over the newly formed puddle. He went looking for Skitty instead, only to find out that the kitten Pokemon was in the cave even before May was. He spent an hour looking. With her motherly side coming out, May scolded Drew, telling him that he should not have done that for her because he would get a cold and die of hypothermia, and that Skitty was smart enough to find dry land on its own especially under such circumstances. He told her she talked a lot, that he was fine and he wasn't going to die, and that he'd be willing to do anything for her. That's what made her heart stop and look at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"What?" she had asked, fearing she heard it wrong the first time.

"I'd be willing to do anything for you. I'd be willing to find your Skitty for you in a thunderstorm if it made you happy. I'm willing to do that for you, and more."

"Of course," May agreed. "You're my friend, after all."

That made Drew roll his eyes. "I'm pretty sure we both know I meant that as something more."

A few months after that, when the sky was happy, bright, and sunny once again, Drew got scolded by Harley. By _Harley_ of all people in the universe. Drew had to listen through three hours of lectures from Harley about not going out with May yet despite her knowing his feelings, and him knowing she reciprocated those feelings. (Drew wondered when and how Harley found this information out but figured that, since Harley was dating Soledad, then his female mentor would have told her boyfriend.) Drew was so tempted to count his sighs and eye-roll but figured it would have been useless if he wanted to know how many he could do in three hours, seeing as he had already missed the first hundred. When Harley was done, Drew was approached by Soledad, who asked one question: why were Drew and May not together yet?

"I'm actually courting her," Drew had answered. "I want to go through the whole thing. Courting, then dating, then becoming an official couple, and then stuff after that."

"What's the point?" Soledad asked.

"It's for the benefit of both of us. There's a romantic sense to it, but there's nothing tying us to each other yet. Technically speaking, anyway. I think we both want to know if it's worth it."

"And you like the chase."

Drew nodded. There wasn't any point in denying it anyway. "This courting phase is probably going to take a while, but if it works, it'll be worth it. And we'd know it." Drew smiled. "Besides, I don't us to get together that quickly. If it was so easy for us to get together, then it would be just as easy for us to fall apart. I want to know that we can happen. I want her to know that I'm serious about her."

Soledad smiled with him. "I would never had known that you'd grow up to be someone like this."

"You wouldn't have known what I'd be like as a grown up until I grew up."

Two years later, May and Drew started dating. A year after that, they became an official couple. On both incidents, the world of coordinating had their eyes on the pair. It was the perfect match, a lot would say. He was the Prince of Coordinating, she was the Princess of Hoenn. It only made sense that they would end up together. It only made sense that they would complete each other's fairytale.

When Drew was twenty-six, he bought a diamond ring. During Christmas that year, with his family, May's family, and their mutual friends as spectators, he got down on one knee in front of May and held out the ring. That was the first time he made May cry, and strangely, everyone was proud that he did.

The happiest day of May's life was also the happiest day of Drew's. They shared that happiness like how they finally shared everything else in their lives.

It wasn't coincidence that they met. That they knew. Things, they realized, happened just because. He and she just so happened to be at the same place, at the same time. And they were thankful of that, and everything else that followed after.

* * *

I actually don't know what that was. I wanted to write, so I wrote, and this is what came out of that. It's a bit rusty, but I hope it was interesting!

Anyway, for those wondering, the sudden inspiration was from a talk about "panliligaw" or courting, especially in the Philippine context. So yeah...

Hope you guys enjoyed!

- Raine

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


End file.
